Publishing Ethics

 

IEM Journal is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The Journal follows established best practices in scholarly publishing and is guided by the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher, are expected to uphold the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.

1. Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for maintaining the academic quality and integrity of the IEM Journal.

They shall:

  • Ensure that editorial decisions are based on the academic quality, originality, significance, clarity, and relevance of a manuscript to the scope of the Journal.
  • Ensure that manuscripts are evaluated fairly and objectively, without discrimination based on authors' race, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, religion, or other personal characteristics.
  • Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and protect information obtained during the editorial and peer-review process.
  • Ensure that appropriate and suitably qualified reviewers are appointed.
  • Manage conflicts of interest and ensure that individuals with relevant conflicts do not participate in editorial decisions.
  • Ensure that the peer-review process is conducted fairly, consistently, and transparently.
  • Respond appropriately to allegations of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, authorship disputes, and other forms of misconduct.
  • Follow appropriate procedures when corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions are required.
  • Provide authors with an opportunity to appeal editorial decisions where appropriate.
  • Maintain the integrity and accuracy of the Journal's published academic record.
  • Ensure that commercial or financial considerations do not compromise editorial independence.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, or institutional affiliations. COPE guidance specifically emphasises editorial accountability, academic integrity, quality assurance, confidentiality, appropriate peer review, and the correction or retraction of the scholarly record when necessary.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the quality and integrity of the IEM Journal.

Reviewers shall:

  • Evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, and constructively.
  • Provide comments that assist authors in improving the quality of their work.
  • Assess the manuscript based on its scientific or technical merit, originality, methodology, clarity, and relevance.
  • Maintain strict confidentiality regarding manuscripts under review.
  • Not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal research, professional advantage, or any other purpose.
  • Declare any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment.
  • Decline a review assignment if they do not possess sufficient expertise or cannot complete the review within the required timeframe.
  • Alert the Editor-in-Chief to any suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated data, inappropriate citation, or other ethical concerns.
  • Not contact authors directly regarding a manuscript under review unless authorised by the Journal.

Reviewers should provide their assessments independently and should not allow personal, professional, or institutional relationships to influence their recommendations. COPE recommends that journals provide reviewers with clear guidance and require disclosure of potential competing interests.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted work meets appropriate standards of research and publication ethics.

Authors shall:

  • Ensure that the manuscript represents original work and has not been published elsewhere in substantially similar form.
  • Ensure that all data, results, analyses, and findings are reported accurately and honestly.
  • Avoid fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, manipulation of data, and misleading presentation of research findings.
  • Ensure that all individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work are appropriately recognised as authors or contributors.
  • Ensure that all listed authors have approved the final manuscript and agree to its submission and publication.
  • Obtain appropriate permission for copyrighted material reproduced in the manuscript.
  • Properly acknowledge and cite all sources, ideas, data, and materials derived from other works.
  • Declare all relevant financial and non-financial conflicts of interest.
  • Disclose sources of research funding and the role of funders, where applicable.
  • Obtain appropriate ethical approval and informed consent where research involving human participants, personal data, animals, or other ethically sensitive materials requires such approval.
  • Cooperate with the Journal in investigating suspected ethical issues or allegations of misconduct.
  • Promptly inform the Journal of any significant errors discovered in a published article and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction when necessary.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

4. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher of the IEM Journal is committed to supporting the Editorial Board in maintaining editorial independence, academic integrity, and ethical publishing practices.

The publisher shall:

  • Support the Journal in implementing appropriate publication ethics policies.
  • Provide the necessary systems and resources for editorial and peer-review processes.
  • Respect the independence of editorial decisions.
  • Support investigations into suspected publication misconduct.
  • Assist the Editorial Board in implementing corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions where necessary.
  • Maintain the integrity and accessibility of the published academic record.
  • Ensure that publication-related policies, fees, copyright, licensing, and other relevant information are communicated transparently to authors and readers.

The publisher shall not interfere with editorial decisions based on commercial, financial, or other non-academic considerations.

5. Conflicts of Interest

All authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the Editorial Board must disclose any financial, professional, personal, or other interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgement.

Where a significant conflict exists, the individual concerned shall be excluded from the relevant editorial or peer-review process.

6. Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted to the IEM Journal are treated as confidential documents.

Editors and reviewers shall not disclose information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than those directly involved in the editorial and peer-review process.

PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

The IEM Journal takes publication malpractice seriously and is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record.

The Journal does not tolerate plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, manipulation of research findings, duplicate or redundant publication, inappropriate authorship practices, undisclosed conflicts of interest, peer-review manipulation, or other forms of academic and publication misconduct.

The Journal follows appropriate ethical procedures when allegations of misconduct are raised, including matters identified before or after publication. COPE recommends that journals have clearly described procedures for handling allegations of misconduct and that such allegations be taken seriously at both pre-publication and post-publication stages.

1. Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when an author presents another person's words, ideas, data, images, results, or other intellectual contributions as their own without appropriate acknowledgement.

The IEM Journal may use plagiarism-detection software to identify potential cases of plagiarism or inappropriate text overlap.

Where substantial plagiarism is identified, the manuscript may be rejected. Where plagiarism is discovered after publication, the Journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the seriousness and circumstances of the case.

2. Fabrication and Falsification

Fabrication refers to making up data, results, experiments, or other research information.

Falsification refers to manipulating research materials, data, procedures, images, or results in a way that misrepresents the research.

Such practices constitute serious research misconduct and may result in rejection, retraction, notification of the relevant institution, or other appropriate action.

3. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit or publish substantially the same manuscript in more than one journal.

The Journal may reject manuscripts that contain significant duplication of previously published work. If duplicate publication is identified after publication, appropriate corrective action may be taken.

4. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must accurately reflect substantial contributions to the research and manuscript.

The following practices are unacceptable:

  • Ghost authorship, where a significant contributor is omitted from the author list.
  • Guest or honorary authorship, where an individual is listed despite making no substantial contribution.
  • Unauthorised changes to the author list.
  • Misrepresentation of individual contributions.

Any authorship dispute should be addressed transparently and, where necessary, referred to the authors' institution for resolution. COPE identifies authorship and contributorship as a core area requiring clear policies and procedures.

5. Citation Manipulation

Authors, reviewers, and editors must not engage in practices intended primarily to artificially increase citation counts.

Examples include excessive self-citation, coercive citation, or requesting irrelevant citations solely to increase the citation impact of an individual, journal, author, or institution.

6. Peer-Review Manipulation

The Journal does not tolerate attempts to manipulate the peer-review process.

This includes:

  • Providing fabricated reviewer identities or contact information.
  • Submitting reviews on behalf of another person without authorisation.
  • Unduly influencing reviewers.
  • Attempting to identify or contact reviewers inappropriately.
  • Any other action intended to compromise the independence or integrity of peer review.

7. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

Failure to disclose a significant conflict may constitute publication malpractice and may result in appropriate editorial action.

8. Research and Ethical Misconduct

Where applicable, authors must comply with relevant ethical requirements concerning:

  • Human participants;
  • Informed consent;
  • Personal or confidential data;
  • Animal research;
  • Sensitive or vulnerable populations; and
  • Other research requiring ethical oversight.

The Journal may request evidence of ethical approval or consent where appropriate. Ethical oversight is one of COPE's identified core publication-ethics areas.

9. Allegations of Misconduct

Allegations of publication malpractice may be raised by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other relevant parties.

All allegations will be treated seriously and handled confidentially.

The Editor-in-Chief may conduct a preliminary assessment and, where appropriate, seek clarification or evidence from the authors, reviewers, institutions, or other relevant parties.

Where an allegation appears to warrant further investigation, the Journal may:

  1. Request an explanation or supporting documentation from the authors;
  2. Consult relevant members of the Editorial Board;
  3. Contact the authors' institution or relevant research organisation;
  4. Seek independent expert advice;
  5. Follow relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts; and
  6. Take appropriate action based on the findings.

The Journal will aim to ensure that investigations are conducted fairly, objectively, and without prejudice.

10. Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions

The IEM Journal recognises that errors or ethical concerns may occasionally be identified after publication.

Where necessary, the Journal may publish:

  • Correction: where an error requires amendment but does not invalidate the overall findings.
  • Expression of Concern: where significant concerns exist but an investigation has not yet been completed.
  • Retraction: where the published work is found to contain serious errors, unreliable findings, or significant ethical or publication misconduct.

The Journal will maintain a transparent record of corrections and retractions to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. COPE's core practices specifically call for mechanisms to correct, revise, or retract published articles.

11. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal an editorial decision or raise a complaint concerning the editorial or peer-review process.

Complaints and appeals will be handled fairly and confidentially by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated member of the Editorial Board.

Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, an independent member of the Editorial Board or appropriate institutional representative may be appointed to handle the matter.

The Journal will not permit complaints or appeals to influence the impartiality of the peer-review process.

12. Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI

Authors must disclose the use of artificial intelligence or generative AI tools where such tools have materially contributed to the preparation of the manuscript, in accordance with the Journal's AI Usage and Disclosure Policy.

AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their submitted work.